ATTENTION!

This is an archive of the old Natural Hazards Center website. Transporting over the content may have causes some of the links/images/content to break; If you feel this is the case please contact the hazards center at hazctr@colorado.edu.

1) Call for Papers I

The journal "Stress, Trauma, and Crisis," an international, peer-reviewed multidisciplinary publication is planning a special issue on stress and the family. It is expected that manuscripts of all types, including program and clinical innovations, basic and applied qualitative and quantitative research, literature reviews, meta-analysis articles, and essays on theory construction and research methodologies will be submitted for consideration. All manuscripts with a family focus will be considered.

2) Call for Papers II

The journal "The American Sociologist" is publishing a special edition focusing on the emerging sociology of terrorism. The issue will explore how sociologists are approaching the field of terrorism studies through examining focal concerns, methodological strategies, and applicable theories. Contributors are expected to help illuminate the shape of an emerging sociology of terrorism and provide insight into the distinctive understanding of political violence and extremism that it might generate.

Submissions are due August 31, 2004. Papers should exhibit a sociological focus on terrorism and authors should submit four double-spaced, letter quality copies following the style of citations used by the American Sociological Association. Send manuscripts to James David Ballard, Terrorism Special Issue "The American Sociologist," California State University, Northridge, Department of Sociology, Faculty Building #306, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330; (818) 677-2009.

3) IEM Annual Award: Call for Nominations

The UK's Institute of Emergency Management (IEM) was incorporated in 1996 by professional emergency planners and managers who recognized the need to research and improve the response to major incidents and their immediate and long-term co-ordinated management. Since its formation, IEM has been actively involved in achieving these targets and has constantly pressed for high standards of professional practice at national and local levels as well as the exchange of ideas and publication of information at international levels.

IEM is calling for nominations for its annual "Emergency Management" award which was established to recognize significant contributions in the field of emergency management. Nominations may be based on contributions to the field in various forms, including research activity/publications, program and policy advancement, and/or professional development of the field.

4) USDA First Responder Initiative

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has committed $100 million to support rural emergency responder efforts through a new program called the "USDA First Responder Initiative."

Funds will be dedicated from existing Community Facility Grant funding to meet first responder-type requests. Initiative priorities are on strengthening the ability of rural communities to respond to local emergencies, and a variety of projects are eligible for funding. Projects include fire protection equipment, police/fire stations and apparatus, EMS apparatus, emergency response training, earth storm warning systems, communications centers, and more.

Since its inception the program has funded 20 fire stations, 24 fire trucks, 8 police cars, and other fire and rescue equipment. In addition, funding will support over 20 health-care related efforts such as hospitals and medical centers.

5) Authors Wanted!

The "Carolina Fire Rescue EMS Journal," a North Carolina industry paper that is distributed quarterly, is preparing an upcoming fall edition with a focus on HAZMAT. The 2004 HAZMAT edition will come out in October and be widely distributed throughout the state. The editorial board is currently soliciting interested and qualified authors who are able to submit editorials, articles, or product features for this issue.

6) Disaster Recovery Yellow Pages

The Disaster Recovery Yellow Pages is a resource for disaster recovery and business continuity information. Listings are arranged both by category and alphabetically, and it includes information on starting disaster recovery plans.

11) Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

[Below are a few recent job vacancies that are related to some of the myriad activities in which DR readers engage. Please contact the organizations directly for more information.]

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Senior Emergency Management Analyst

Criterion Strategies, located in New York City, is looking to hire a senior emergency management analyst to serve as a general and supervisory staff member. The incumbent will report to the emergency management program manager and will assume an active role on project teams. The analyst will assist in developing contract bids and proposals to include developing and defining the scope of work and technical approach of projects, collect and analyze data, write reports, and present results as needed.

Requirements include a bachelors degree from an accredited college or university in emergency mangement or a related administrative field such as pubic administration, public health, fire safety, or law enforcement.

The Response Alternatives for Technical Services (RATS) Program was developed by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) to meet the need for backfilling positions and providing surge capacity during worldwide disasters when OFDA cannot find adequate staff to cover all positions in the field and in Washington, D.C. OFDA approved this program to hire candidates to work on a part-time basis, for no more than 130 days per calendar year, and be deployed within hours to facilitate OFDA's response to disasters.

The RATS program is managed by the Overseas Administration Unit (OAU), which maintains a database for all contracted RATS, providing information to the rest of the office on their availability, skills and previous OFDA experience. The OAU assists the program offices within OFDA in choosing the best qualified RATS for any specific task, and provides administrative and personnel support to existing RATS.

These positions respond to humanitarian emergencies (natural, technological and conflict-related disasters) as required, worldwide. Each RATS will provide enhancement to the OFDA team according to their skills.

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Research Engineer - Field Testing and Monitoring of Structural Performance

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (C&EE) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), invites applications for a non-tenure track research engineer in field dynamic testing and monitoring of geotechnical and structural systems. The position is open at all levels (assistant research engineer, associate research engineer, and research engineer)depending on candidate experience. Requirements include a doctorate degree in civil engineering or a related field.

The incumbent will be responsible for helping to manage the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES)site at UCLA. Strong project management skills, excellent communication skills, and familiarity with sensors, data acquisition and field shakers, are required. In addition, the successful candidate will be encouraged to develop and sustain an independent, extramurally-sponsored research program, publish in scholarly journals, and contribute to the teaching mission of the C&EE department.

Applications are due August 15, 2004. Send a detailed resume, a brief statement of teaching and research interests, and three references to John W. Wallace, UCLA, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 5731 Boelter Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095; e-mail: wallace@ucla.edu; http://www.nees.ucla.edu.

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Product Marketing Manager

Risk Management Solutions, a provider of products and services for catastrophic risk management, is seeking to fill a vacancy in technical marketing in Newark, California. Technical marketing is a globally-focused team, responsible for the business planning, marketing, and launch of RMS models and products, as well as providing post-catastrophe response. They also have hands-on involvement in the development and application of natural software catastrophe models.

The candidate will have marketing responsibility for a number of natural catastrophe peril models and products around the world. Job responsibilities include: developing business cases and market requirements for new products and product upgrades; conducting research on insurance markets and natural hazards in target regions; monitoring the associated competitive activity; profiling client revenue for different products; developing marketing collateral and product documentation; interacting closely with model developers and client service teams; sourcing client data for model development; diagnosing client questions about modeling products; and managing external client communications.

Requirements include an undergraduate degree in natural sciences, engineering, or a related field, and excellent verbal and written communication skills An advanced degree and/or two years in technical marketing, business management, or an applied science field are strongly preferred. Examples of written work and references will be requested.

8) Some New Web Resources

http://www.chiex.net/
The Collaborative Research Network (CHN), with members in five countries of Latin America and the Caribbean as well as in the United States, sponsors the Climate and Health Information Exchange (CHIEX) web page which lists articles, training opportunities, and on-going research projects that deal with climate variability and human health impacts.

http://www.preparingforemergencies.gov.uk/
The United Kingdom is sending an information booklet "Preparing for Emergencies - What you Need to Know" to every home in the UK. The booklet is available at this web site as well, and contains practical common sense advice on what to do in an emergencies.

http://www.disaster-timeline.com/
The latest version of the "Terrorism Time Line" chart (Version 3)is now available for a nominal shipping and handling fee from the web site above.

http://www.9-11commission.gov/
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission), an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation has released its final report, available in PDF format as well as in bookstores and from the Government Printing Office.

http://www.floodsmart.gov/
This is an official web site of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and it contains a variety of information and resources on flood preparedness, protection, and how to participate in NFIP programs.

9) Conferences and Training

[Below are some recent announcements received by the Natural Hazards Center. A comprehensive list of upcoming hazards-related meetings and training is available from our web site: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/conf.html.]

Workshop of the Committee on Disaster Research in the Social Sciences. Sponsor: National Academies Division on Life and Earth Sciences. Washington, DC: August 23-24, 2004. For several decades, social scientists have conducted research, sometimes cooperatively with physical scientists and engineers, on natural, technological and human-induced hazards and disasters. Several researchers, policy makers, and practitioners will share their knowledge and perspectives on a range of topics including disaster insurance, multidisciplinary research, international research, new methodological approaches, new research and educational initiatives, and the uses of knowledge derived from social science hazard and disaster research. For more information contact Byron Mason, The National Academies Keck Center, 500 Fifth Street NW, Room 101, Washington DC 20001; e-mail: bmason@nas.edu; http://dels.nas.edu/dr/DRSSWorkshopAgenda.html.

2004 Tri-State Search and Rescue Conference: Never Stop Training. Sponsors: New York State Federation of Search and Rescue, Pennsylvania Search and Rescue Council, Search and Rescue Council of New Jersey. Highmount, New York: September 15-19, 2004. This conference will focus on skills and exercises necessary for search and rescue team members, ranging from incident command, to medical issues, and canine training. More information can be obtained from Tri-State Search and Rescue, e-mail: info@tristatesar.org; http://www.tristatesar.org.

Terrorism and Trauma: A Transatlantic Perspective. Sponsors: Royal Society of Medicine, Association of Academic Health Centers, University of Maryland, Baltimore. Baltimore, Maryland: September 20-22, 2004. With a focus on both sides of the Atlantic, the topics in this conference range from bioterrorism, government response, preparedness, trauma, and education. For registration and other information contact Mary Leach, RSM/AHC Joint Bioterrorism Conference, Office of the President, University of Maryland, 520 West Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD 21201; (410) 706-7004; e-mail: mleach@umaryland.edu; http://www.umaryland.edu/terrorismandtrauma.

Innovations in Disaster Psychology 2004: Developing Public Health Models of Disaster Mental Health. Sponsor: Disaster Mental Health Institute (DMHI). Vermillion, South Dakota: September 30-October 2, 2004. This conference is intended for public health officials, disaster mental health professionals, and health and mental health professionals nationally and internationally. Its objective is to focus on the integration of disaster mental health and public health, including an increased understanding of the issues and theories regarding the issues, and practical models of implementation. For more information contact DMHI, University of South Dakota,414 East Clark Street - SDU114, Vermillion, SD 57069; (605) 677-6575; e-mail: dmhi@usd.edu; http://www.usd.edu/dmhi/conf04/.

International Technical Rescue Symposium (ITRS). Sponsors: American Alpine Club, Mountain Rescue Association, Fire Rescue Magazine, Society for Professional Rope Access Technicians. Albuquerque, New Mexico: November 5-7, 2004. The focus of this meeting is on bringing people from across the spectrum of rescue disciplines together to share news and views on advances in equipment and techniques, technical problems, and issues of mutual concern. For more information contact Sherry Cox, Pigeon Mountain Industries, Inc., P.O. Box 803, Lafayette, GA 30728; (706) 746-1437; e-mail scox@pmirope.com; http://www.nasar.org/nasar/downloads/NEW_2004_ITRS_FLYER_BROCHURE.pdf.

International Conference on Grounding and Earthing. Sponsor: Belo Horizonte, Brazil: November 7-11, 2004. This conference will provide an opportunity for researchers, engineers, designers, and users, from a wide range of industry and academia to present and discuss the latest scientific results and share practical experience about lightning physics and practical applications to protect against lightning. Complete information can be obtained from Silvério Visacro F.; tel: (055.31) 34994872; e-mail: LRC@cpdee.ufmg.br; http://www.ground2004.com/.